Today felt like it moved as fast as the whole year last year, man sometimes time seems to stop while other times it just Flys by, ever wonder why that is. That’s some of what I will go over in this book review of the book Felt Time by Marc Wittmann.
Who the Book is For:
Well, I would say it’s for everyone that feels time but it’s really not for everyone. So who is it for? Well, mostly I would say scholars and those wanting to understand a bit more about time and the way we feel it everyday and maybe even learn to slow it down so to speak.
Quick Summary:
To put this book in a few words is actually an easy thing to do despite being on such a complex topic. This book goes over how we as humans feel time and the passage of time. It gives examples and it breaks down those examples into details as to why time feels fast, slow, or even to stop. Though it is an almost 5-hour audiobook, it is not too heavy on information, more on giving examples that most people, if not all adults, can relate to on an almost everyday basis.
Simple Breakdown of the Book:
The main point of this book is to explain why we feel time differently at different times and in different situations.
First, feeling time fast as in the day goes by before you know it, almost like it was in a blink of an eye. This is usually caused by being lost in the moment or the day so to speak, when one is enjoying yourself or doing things that bring joy, fulfillment, or even things that relieve stress and pain. In these moments the mind becomes completely occupied by the moment, it doesn’t give much of your brain power over to the passage of time and so when thinking back on it, there seems to be no time involved in the event like it just happened all at once.
Then comes the times when time seems to go by slowly, though it doesn’t have to be the opposite as when time seems to be moving fast, most of the time is. It is usually the moments when you want to be over and done with whatever you are doing, when you are paying attention to the time and how long something will take. When you want it to end and you’re counting it down is when time seems to be moving slowly because in these cases we are giving thought to the passage of time and so it seemingly passes slower, but it is in reality because we are spending more effort thinking about the passage of time.
Then there are times when time seems to stop or move at lightning speeds, when doing something important. For instance, in a car accident when time stops so you can act or things moving fast when you’re playing a sport. These are the other examples where your body is actually speeding and slowing time chemically in your brain to allow you to act. This is a process that happens through your heart rate and chemicals in the blood, allowing your brain to fire faster or to slow it down. Like a gas and brakes for your brain.
Analysis:
This was an interesting book that though I didn’t get much from it to do I did learn a lot. It sticks to the point and doesn’t go off much. However, it does not give a lot of data, maybe because of the lacking of data, or it is not explained well or covered well in this book.
Why You Should Read It:
Why anyone should read this is a bit of an ask for me. It is interesting but it doesn’t provide much besides examples along the lines of how time is felt for different people and gives a few reasons as to why that is. Though for anyone doing research into this, it is a must, but if you’re not doing research, I would say it’s a pass for most.
Recommendation:
I’m not really going to say go read this because it really is a very specialized book. So if you’re not in the field of studying time or how the brain works, you should pass on this one.
Conclusion
To end with, I’ll give a good takeaway from this that anyone can use. That is to pay attention to time, wear a watch and keep track of the current time, try to make it a habit or glancing at the time as you go about your day. Awareness of time, according to this book, is the main reason for time slowing and speeding up. It can make good days slow down and bad days speed up to all feel about the same. This can be a good or bad thing, but I think it’s good. Also, stop and take deep breaths to slow your brain down throughout the day. It will help relieve stress and slow down days that feel overwhelmingly fast.
Well, that’s it. Thanks for your time and I hope you have a wonderfully day. A more detailed video over view of the book will be comming soon. Look out for it have.
